Tool to help finding suitable Strata Manager

@Stratabox.com.au said:
Hi Jimmy et. al.

I am looking at the process people follow when they want to change Strata Manager. Specifically how SC members establish their shortlist of 3 or 4 companies to get quotes from. I know some providers offer this service “for free” in exchange for a commission, but what is the alternative? Yellow pages, SCA website, Google search, word of mouth?

We are considering adding to Stratabox a page where people can perform a search based on their location, scheme type and size and get a list of suitable firms. We would then build up the list with various objective criteria (acreditations, memberships, awards, size etc) to help people make their selection. This would be totally transparent and free for both sides.

Any feedback would be fantastic!  

This is a great idea .

PS it would be great if organisations like the SCA had up to date archival lists of their award winners. That part of their website is pretty poor

Personally, I don’t think SCA recommendations would assist or make an impression on me at all.

From my experience several SCA award winners would not get a look in at any scheme I had a say in – having been bitten more than once.

I would rather listen to a completely independent body whose members have had first hand experience as a client of a particular strata managing agent.

If Stratabox was to be of use, to me, it would need to have a complete list of Strata Managing agents – without favour.

The “word of mouth” approach is really the only method I’ve had any success with.  SCA is a little too skewed towards strata agencies (as opposed to strata owners) for my liking.  The worst strata managers I’ve dealt with have won SCA awards.  Productreview is hopeless – full of grievance posts (one star), or people who have created posts at the encouragement of their strata agency (five stars).

There is certainly an opportunity here for creating a database of strata agencies – starting with the factual stuff.  A true assessment of each strata manager’s capabilities, style and performance is very difficulty to compile and maintain.

In reality, now that I have found a decent strata manager, I’m going to keep that info to myself – the last thing I want is for this person to take on a major influx of new business which could dilute the service they provide me.  It’s a bit like finding a great tradesperson.  And it’s a sad reflection of the highly variable end user experience of the strata management industry.